Case Categories: Civil Rights Movement and the First Amendment

The First Amendment proved to be a crucial tool for the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s, as ministers preached, protesters marched, organizations litigated, advocates petitioned, and the press reported on racial discrimination.

The expressive actions of protesters and activists also led to the considerable growth of First Amendment precedent. The movement witnessed such an expansion of free expression principles through First Amendment cases that scholar Harry Kalven Jr. wrote, “We may come to see the Negro as winning back for us the freedoms the Communists seemed to have lost for us.”

Below is a list of Supreme Court cases involving First Amendment rights related to the Civil Rights Movement. 

• Adderley v. Florida (1966)

  In Adderly v. Florida (1966), the Supreme Court said stopping protestors from blocking access to a jail did not suppress their First Amendment freedoms...

• Bates v. Little Rock (1960)

  In Bates v. Little Rock (1960), the Court affirmed that freedom of association finds protection within the First Amendment’s free speech and assembly clauses...

• Bond v. Floyd (1966)

  Bond v. Floyd (1966) held that legislators do not forfeit their right to speak on public issues, reaffirming that the First Amendment protects controversial...

• Brown v. Louisiana (1966)

  Brown v. Louisiana (1966) ruled that a sit-in demonstration protesting segregation in a public library was protected symbolic speech under the First Amendment...

• Cox v. Louisiana (1965)

  In Cox v. Louisiana, the Supreme Court overturned a state law used to arrest civil rights marchers saying the law infringed upon freedoms of assembly and speech...

• Edwards v. South Carolina (1963)

  Edwards v. South Carolina (1963) said South Carolina violated students’ First Amendment rights when the police dispersed a peaceful protest against...

• Garner v. Louisiana (1961)

  In Garner v. Louisiana, the court ruled that a Louisiana breach of the peace law was too vague to be applied to the peaceful sit-ins used by civil rights...

• Gibson v. Florida Legislative Investigation Committee (1963)

  In Gibson v. Florida Legislative Investigation Committee, the court held that the state must show compelling interest to intrude on First Amendment rights...

• Gregory v. City of Chicago (1969)

  In Gregory v. City of Chicago, the Court upheld the First Amendment rights of peaceful protestors over police attempting to quell anticipated civil disorder...

• NAACP v. Alabama (1958)

  In NAACP v. Alabama (1958), the Court ruled that the First Amendment protected the free association rights of the NAACP and its rank-and-file members...

• NAACP v. Button (1963)

  NAACP v. Button (1963) was important not only to First Amendment jurisprudence but also to the vitality of public interest law firm litigation in general...

• New Negro Alliance v. Sanitary Grocery Co., Inc. (1938)

  In New Negro Alliance v. Sanitary Grocery Co., Inc. (1938), the Supreme Court ruled that pickets that were a peaceful and orderly dissemination of information...

• Shuttlesworth v. Birmingham (1969)

  Shuttlesworth v. Birmingham (1969) ruled that the conviction of the Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth for leading a protest march without a permit violated the First...

• Walker v. City of Birmingham (1967)

  In Walker v. City of Birmingham (1967), the Court refused to look at whether a court order against Birmingham civil rights protestors violated the First...